Views of Sedge Valley's Land
Views of Sedge Valley's Land
Views of Sedge Valley's Land
Views of Sedge Valley's Land
Views of Sedge Valley's Land

Tom Doak Hired to Design 4th Course At Sand Valley

What You Need to Know About Sedge Valley

By Brian Weis

More great news from Sand Valley, as the Keiser Family recently announced the construction for their fourth course at Sand Valley. Tom Doak was selected to build the course, dubbed "Sedge Valley".

Who is Tom Doak?
Tom Doak is owner and lead golf course architect at Renaissance Golf Design. Tom has designed and constructed dozens of courses around the globe. Currently, he has four golf courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to the "Top 100 Courses in the World" list compiled by Golf Magazine. These courses include Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Ballyneal in Colorado, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand.

How will it be different than the other courses? (Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes)
Many consider the land that Sedge Valley will be built on as some of the best golf course land on property. The course will be routed through a sedge savannah that has large sand blow outs over gentle rolling terrain. What makes the course truly unique is length and par. Doak's preliminary routing measures 6,100 yards with a par of 68. The Keisers and Doak are very excited to introduce American golfers to a type of golf course long known and loved throughout England. It will be an initial mind bender as the course doesn't conform to expectations of length or par.

Doak shared, "(It's) a concept I have wanted to pursue for years -- to build a great par-68 course for America like England has so many of. Courses like Swinley Forest, Rye, West Sussex, Cavendish, and St. Enodoc are some of my favorite places in golf, and it's a shame there is nothing like them over here." - Tom Doak

Expected Open Date
The planning has begun. The anticipation is for construction to begin in 2019. If everything goes according to plan there is a potential for a soft opening in 2021.

Where is it in relationship to the other courses?
Located to the east of the front 9 at Sand Valley.

Why a par 68?
Sedge Valley is unconventional with no concept of distance or par. The preliminary routing fits perfectly in the land available.

Doak elaborated, "Courses like Swinley Forest, Rye, West Sussex, Cavendish, and St. Enodoc are some of my favorite places in golf, and it's a shame there is nothing like them over here."

Until now Mr Doak...we all are excited to see your creation.

Revised: 09/25/2018 - Article Viewed 14,904 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.